Pondok Boro residents protest rent hike

Pondok Boro residents protest rent hike

JAKARTA (JP): Around two hundred residents of the Pondok Boro
low-cost housing complex in the Pulo Gadung area, East Jakarta,
marched to the City Council building yesterday to protest against
the city administration's doubling of the daily rent on their
apartments, which came into effect this month.

"We feel that the 100 percent hike of the daily rent rate from
Rp 1,000 to Rp 2,000 for a bachelor-type room and from Rp 1,200
to Rp 2,400 for a family room is a heavy burden for us", said
Zunir, the residents' spokesman.

He said the residents could not afford to pay the new rent
because most of them were unskilled laborers whose wages were
meager.

Zunir said some of the workers were paid as little as Rp 2,500
a day.

A female worker told The Jakarta Post that she had been
searching for a new job since she left her job at PT Temboan, a
sandal factory, four months ago. She had left the job, she said,
because her daily wage of Rp 2,200 (US$1) had not been enough to
make ends meet.

Another female worker, who asked not to be identified, said
she is now working at PT Garment Jamco, a garment factory, where
her pay is only Rp 2,500 a day.

Despite the fact that the government has set the minimum daily
wage level in Jakarta at Rp 3,800 (US$1.72), some companies are
yet to comply.

The Pondok Boro low cost housing complex, a two-story
building, is located on Jl. Raya Penggilingan in East Jakarta.

The building has two types of rooms, the family-type room and
the smaller bachelor-type room. A family room measures two by
four meters. The rooms are located on the first floor.

The bachelor rooms measure two by three meters.

Each family room is generally occupied by three to four
people, while the bachelor-type rooms are normally occupied by
two to three people.

Increase

Zunir said the rent increase had been announced by the
chairman of the Pulo Gadung Industrial and Housing Estate
Authority, R.O. Singgih, by way of announcement sheets that had
been attached to the residents' doors on Dec. 8, 1994.

The announcement stated that the increase was based on 1994
Gubernatorial Decree No. 718.

It also stated that the old rate was not enough to cover the
costs of maintaining the building.

Responding to the announcement, the residents sent a letter to
Singgih saying that they objected to the rent increase.

Yesterday, the Pondok Boro residents were received by
Commission A, a city council commission which oversees
administrative and security affairs.

Commission Chairman Mohammad Aman said he would hold a meeting
with the governor's office as soon as possible to discuss the
residents' plea.

The chairman of the Jakarta chapter of the All Indonesian
Workers Union, Salam Sumangat, who is also a member of Commission
E, which oversees public welfare matters, called on the city
administration to reverse its decision to increase the rent.(mas)